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Button-down shirts tend to be limited in their utility, from the nondescript cubicle number, to the Marina-ready pinstripe suitable only for sopping up Stella. For a surprising range in a limiting category, try Gytha Mander.

Local designer GM's latest offering's a series of 15 classily casual shirts all sporting the same unique cut, but varying wildy mood-wise depending on color and pattern, like a chameleon that's off its Abilify. Hemmed of imported cotton, all are slim-fit and long enough to wear tucked in or out; signature features include the slick Windsor collar, contrast placket, chunky French cuffs, and Babar-esque label depicting an elephant gifting a little boy whose mother clearly never warned, "Never accept gifts from a land mammal whose gestation period is longer than 21 months". The wide-ranging steez is provided by swatches that range from cowboyish (the intricate red/black gingham of "Devon", the navy/blue of "Niles"), to almost-office-ready (the pinstriped "Morton" and subtly checked "Laurence"), to "Oscar", whose thick purple/green plaid's evocative of lumberjacks -- giving gondoliers hope that it's almost their turn to be co-opted into mainstream style.

Also new: super-fine wool/satin-lined blazers, wool/silk/charmeuse scarves, and medium-thick ties done up with tongue-in-cheek designs like mini X's and O's, which on closer inspection turn out to be crosses and crowns of thorns -- limiting their utility to any event defined as "Jesus Casual".

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Check the line at GythaMander.com; select items up for sale at

Gytha Mander (Emailed on October 2, 2008)

Available at Rolo; 2351 Market St, at Castro; The Castro; 415.431.4545

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